SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Kurdish militant group PKK denied involvement in Sunday’s bomb attack in Istanbul, saying it did not target civilians, in a statement on the PKK-affiliated Roj News website on Monday.
“It is out of the question for us to target civilians in any way,” the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said, refuting Turkey’s claims that it and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were responsible for the blast that killed six people.
Turkey blamed Kurdish militants on Monday for an explosion that killed six people in Istanbul and police detained 47 people including a Syrian woman suspected of planting the bomb, but the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) denied involvement.
No group has claimed responsibility so far for Sunday’s blast on the busy pedestrian Istiklal Avenue, which left 81 people wounded. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia were responsible for the blast.
Ankara says the YPG is a wing of the PKK, and it has carried out three incursions in northern Syria against the YPG since 2016.
The PKK has led an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in clashes. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.
